How Ozone Integration Can Improve UV, RO, Chlorine and Filtration Efficiency
Today ozone is universally recognized as the most powerful and effective commercially available water disinfection technology. Ozone pre-treatment provides enhanced disinfection, removal of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC’s ) and combines with other technologies for Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP). Ozone’s unmatched disinfection benefits can be incorporated into the treatment train of other technologies to significantly improve their efficiencies and offer many opportunities to reduce operational effort and costs.
Ozone & Ultra Violet
Ozone is an effective solution to provide the necessary pre-treatment water clarification Ultra Violet (UV) requires to operate at peak performance. Ozone quickly and effectively clarifies the water to improve UV transmission. The integration of ozone also extends the life of UV blubs while providing additional disinfection and oxidation treatment for optimal water quality.
A 20-year life cycle cost study of the Coquitlam Municipal Water Treatment Plant in British Columbia revealed that the additional of ozone was more economical than UV alone. The findings revealed that the addition of ozone had minimal impact on the 20-year life cycle costs with a shift from capital to operating costs. The integration of ozone in the treatment train also provided an additional barrier for disinfection and reduced the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBP’s), Trihalomethanes (THMs ) and Halocetic acids (HAAs). Source: Lawrence et al. 2006
Combining ozone and UV results in Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) which utilize hydroxyl radicals to treat CEC’s and other contaminants. Ozone importantly adds oxygen to the treated water and UV will convert any residual ozone into oxygen.
Ozone & Chlorine
In a study conducted by Brock University, the findings revealed that the addition of ozone to chlorine treatment resulted in a lower OPEX than chlorine alone. The cost of 5-8cents/m3 of treatment from this study aligns with other modern ozone installations (including Aclarus) showing the same low OPEX for reduced annual costs vs chlorine.
Ozone & Reverse Osmosis
The addition of ozone to a Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatment train can significantly reduce loading and fouling of the system. Ozone is an effective pre-treatment to aggregate metals, natural organic matter (NOM), and total suspended solids (TSS), making removal easier. This pre-treatment can offer significant cost savings with respect to extended filter life and reduced system maintenance.
Ozone also enhances the disinfection effectiveness of RO and can be integrated to maintain water stored in cisterns, tanks and circulated in distribution loops without chemicals. Similarly ozone can be used for periodic sanitizations of downstream plumbing.
Ozone & Filtration
Ozone can improve both Microfiltration (MF) and Ultrafiltration processes (UF). Ozone as a pre-treatment can help extend the life of the specialty pore sized membranes that are required to separate microorganisms and suspended particles from wastewater. Ozone effectively aggregates suspended particles resulting in a flocculant mass (Floc) which then facilitates the easy removal of these solids. This aggregation reduces system loading and extends the life of membrane filters.
Furthermore, as the formation of Floc requires no chemicals or special resins, ozone system integration offers significant operational cost savings. Ozone treatment improves disinfection and also provides the added benefit of clean back wash and maintenance of stored water.
To learn how integration of ozone can significantly enhance the efficiency of your treatment train, please contact us here.